Intimidated by social media? The truth is you are not alone. Most yoga teachers (including me) struggle with social media & how to approach it in an online yoga world that is super competitive & ever-evolving. Navigating through the virtual world & finding your voice can be unsettling.
Choose to lead with authenticity and sincerity & take the first step to make a visible difference. The chances are that people will take notice, you will be discovered & you will find many golden marketing opportunities to meaningfully engage with your online audience & grow your yoga career.
My 5 social media tips for New Yoga Teachers
Brownie points include the fact that social media is free &, when used smartly, can be a productive marketing tool for the services you offer. Here are my five social media tips for New Yoga Teachers.
1. Post with a Purpose
When you start, use a scheduling app to help you plan social media posts for the upcoming week. Don’t post to impress but rather to connect with your target audience. Make time in your daily routine for meaningful, consistent engagements through stories, content, Live videos, and IGTV, amongst others.
Educate your audience with impactful content that is authentic & designed to help them. Listen to their feedback & creatively utilise their responses in your online content.
Follow credible yoga teachers/communities on social media, comment, like, share & learn along the way.
2. Language makes a difference
Communicate to connect & not overwhelm your followers genuinely. Use simple language that your audience understands. Avoid using heavy jargon & anatomical terms.
Instead, work towards communication that strikes a chord with your audience, promises to build online connections & eventually aims to meet their needs & helps them grow, learn & get inspired.
Practice makes you perfect, don’t be afraid to make mistakes & learn from each experience. Remember, you’re not a social media expert, so don’t get disappointed too soon.
It takes time & a committed effort to get the hang of it.
3. Be Yourself
Don’t try to ape picture-perfect handstands & advanced poses that everyone sees on social media. Let your feeds show that yoga is inclusive; anyone & everyone can choose to practice yoga.
Celebrate this diversity and spread the love through your passion & dedication. Aim for quality content & descriptions.
Build online relationships with your audience, one post at a time. Your goal should be to create feeds that generate curiosity, discussions & prompt questions that result in active engagements.
Your followers will appreciate it when you come from a space of empathy & commitment. Show your audience that you are fully invested in what inspires them most.
Your real & online persona should resonate with the same vibe.
4. What gets measured gets managed
Be very practical & realistic about your social media plan. The first step towards this is not to compare yourself to established teachers with massive followers on social media.
Your worth cannot be measured by the number of daily likes & comments you receive.
Analyze your growth month after month to help you understand posts that have performed well & the reasons why.
At the same time, assess those that have not performed & figure out why. It will help you get a plan to understand areas requiring more attention.
Seek professional help if that’s accessible to you, or use online tools for result-oriented self-training.
5. Imperfection over perfection
Finally, don’t go with the mindset of being a perfectionist in Social Media Management; you will get frustrated.
Take tiny steps by starting with Instagram and then slowly graduating to Facebook. Make new mistakes, learn from them & ask for help.
Continue being consistent at teaching & engaging with your students.
Encourage reviews on Google & Facebook as much as you can. Word of mouth is another powerful asset & your students are your best influencers.
There is no magic formula that works for everyone. You will eventually figure out what works for you & what doesn’t. Until then, keep trying, creating & inspiring.